


Light Reflects, Sparks Fly Up

by karrenia_rune



Category: What the Water Gave Me - Florence + the Machine (Song)
Genre: Boats and Ships, Episode: e008 Treasure Hunt, Episode: s01e06 Legacies, F/M, Father-Daughter Relationship, History, Inspired by Music, Ocean, Sunken Ships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-13
Updated: 2020-06-13
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:00:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,456
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24701956
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/karrenia_rune/pseuds/karrenia_rune
Relationships: Original Female Character/Original Male Character
Kudos: 1





	Light Reflects, Sparks Fly Up

"Light Reflects, Sparks Fly Up"

Just about everyone's heard of the most famous cruise liner that went down into the dark cold depths of the Atlantic Ocean that fateful night when it ran into an iceberg. 

This is not that story. Andie Collins could have that was the reason that she has been looking into the histories and archives of sunken ships and maps of the ocean floor.  
While the Titanic was a wonderful ship back in the day that was not what drew her and made her fascinated with sunken ships. 

As she had told her partner and best friend, Gabriel "Gabe" Mendoza, to his friends and former college classmates one night over a couple of beers.

One of his black eyebrows rose a fraction towards his hairline but he waited her out, what about the "Mary Celeste?"

"I've heard of it."

"I mean it's less well known but everything we know about says it was haunted. That definitely could be a draw and we could establish our own niche, our own brand. Who knows, it could be fun and profitable."

"Really?" Andie questioned.

"No, it but it was the first ship that came to mind," he replied. "If this what direction you want to take the business in, I'm all in, but have you considered say sunken French and Spanish treasure ships?"

"Oh?"

"There was a big deal a while back that folks were searching for them, not just for the historical value but also but because in the 16th and 17th century privateering from both French and Spanish sea captains was something fierce."

"How else would they finance all of those wars and empire building?" Andie remarked.

Gabe nodded. "So, high-seas piracy meant a lot of gold and silver coins and ingots that were never accounted for which meant most of it ended up somewhere at the bottom of the ocean."  
"Hmm, Andie considered the possibilities, mentally adding up the pros and cons in her head. We'd need a larger crew and lots of equipment and something with a higher power sonar scan in order to probe into the deeper depths..." she trailed off.

"It could work," Gabe prompted. "And since you've already previously stated that you don't want to do strictly commercial work, do you want to scratch the "Mary Celeste off the list, ghost ships and supernatural hauntings as too kitschy and touristy?"

"My father left me the "Griffin", Gabriel. I think he would want us to continue his work in mapping the seafloor and stuff."

Gabe had been idly spinning his now empty glass of beer and set it down to lean over and place a solid, comforting hand on her forearm. "Okay, then, let's do it. I want to find myself a heap of gold doubloons."  
"What you would you do with it?" Andie asked as they left payment for their drinks with the bartender and walked towards the exit of the bar. 

Gabe shook his head, assess the value, sell them it, start a collection. The possibilities are endless."

"Gabe, you are such a hopeless romantic," Andie fondly teased him. "We'd best get started then. You can't spend any of that treasure until we actually find it."

"Very true," Gabe nodded as he walked to their car and buckled his seatbelt, turning to her as she drove away, "That's why you love me."

****  
"Two decades after a storm of unprecedented fierceness and duration; the likes of which had not been recorded before in the Gulf of Mexico. The "Nuestra Senora de Rosario" had set sail with a fleet of twenty-eight and was lost at sea with no survivors."

"Its last port of call had been Havana on September 4th with a full cargo gold destined for the Royal Spanish Treasury in 1622."

"The "Santa Margarita" was one of eight ships that sank between Havana and Florida with a cargo of gold and silver and her sister ship "The Atocha".

"How many of those wrecks were blamed on bad weather or simply bad luck, I wonder?" Andie mused as they climbed aboard their own ship "The Griffin" and began to go through all the preparations of making the vessel sea-worthy.

"Hard to say," Gabe replied, "we have an invite to the Mel Fisher's Museums. It's a good place to start and they have one of the largest collections of finds and artifacts in the world."

"I agree. Didn't he call his staff the "The Golden Crew?"

"Yeah, he did. Folks there don't just run the museum, they're also conservationists, and offer tourists a chance to go diving after sunken treasure to well learn about a lot of the history."

"Okay, that is officially very serendipitous."

"I thought you'd like it." Gabe grinned that slight off-kilter smile of his and we were off.

******  
We were not the first nor the last to go searching for Santa Maria and her sister ship the Atocha, just the latest. The possibility to plumb the ocean depths began in 1624 when a Havan politician named Fransisco Melian obtained royal salvage contract for the fleet galleons. 

This inventive risk-taker manufactured a remarkable piece of equipment that allowed his divers to see and breathe while working underwater. It was a diving bell, and it was this invention that allowed an enslaved diver to locate the first treasure of the Santa Margarita and win his freedom. 

Melian continued, with some success, to salvage treasure from the galleon for several years, though his efforts were frequently interrupted by weather and Dutch sea forces. Eventually, however, search and recovery became unfeasible and ended, and a vast fortune was left buried in the deep shifting sands of the Florida Straits. In time, the Santa Margarita was forgotten, but not forever. Records of Melian's salvage efforts survived; in fragile worm chewed papers in Spain's archives.

Keith Webb and Doctor Nelson Lyon met as in the foyer of the museum.

"Thank you for agreeing to meet with us," Andie said. "This is Gabriel Mendoza, and you've probably heard of my late father, Frank Owen?"

"I've heard the name before he was quite well-known in the exploration and history circles if, shall we say, a little unorthodox in his methods. He was a good man, I'm sorry to hear of his passing, but I'm certain even harder for you," Doctor Lyon remarked, shaking her hand and then Gab's with a firm grip.

Keith Webb followed suit. 

"Please follow me to my office, both of you, and we'll get started."

The office was not that big by covered in solid oak paneling, with a large bay window letting in the late spring Florida Keys sunshine and maps and cabinets and reference books and plaques on the wall; comfortable looking chairs for both the professor and his guests, and plaques on the walls. 

"Please, have a seat," Doctor Lyons invited. 

"Should I go," Webb asked.

"You stay, too, Keith."

"Ah, the Santa Margarita, she was a wonderful ship, but as the saying goes sometimes the greatest tragedies turn into the best legends."

Webb noded. "Did you know that the ship was named after the Spanish patron saint of lost souls and homeless people. Ironic, when you stop to think about it."

Gabe nodded. What type of ship was she?"

"Santa Margarita was a Spanish galleon of 600 tons, armed with twenty-five cannon. One of a fleet of 28 ships, she was voyaging to Spain with an enormous cargo of plundered New World treasures. In registered wealth, the Santa Margarita carried 166,574 silver “pieces of eight” treasure coins, more than 550 ingots of silver weighing some 10,000 pounds, and over 9,000 ounces of gold in the form of bars, discs, and bits. 

"Additionally, there was contraband — a fortune in “unregistered” treasure having been smuggled on board to avoid paying a 20 percent tax to the Spanish king. The Santa Margarita also carried riches in the form of copper, silverware, indigo, and personal possessions of officers, passengers, and crew, including medical tools, navigational instruments, gold coins, and precious jewelry of almost unimaginable opulence."

Andie whistled in awe. "Was all that from the Spanish colonies?"

Doctor Lyons nodded: "Spain and her creditors awaited the arrival of the fleet anxiously; as its return would refresh the royal coffers, repay loans, and lessen the financial pressures that plagued the kingdom. But when news of the fleet arrived, it wasn't good."

"How do you mean?" Andie prompted, caught up in the legend. Gabe was, too.

"Subsequent to departing the island of Cuba on September 4, the fleet was overtaken by a rapidly developing storm. Within days, the Santa Margarita, along with five other ships in the fleet, was wrecked near the Marqueses Keys in the Florida Straits. Drowned were 550 passengers and crew, 142 from the Santa Margarita. Lost was a king's ransom in treasure, a serious setback for Spain, whose supremacy in the world was upheld by the wealth of the Indie," Doctor Nelson Lyons said, shaking his head at the magnitude of it all."

He continued: "Margarita in Greek means pearl, and the first attempt to find and salvage the Santa Margarita and other fleet casualties were undertaken almost immediately by the Spanish mariner Captain Gaspar de Vargas, who, knowing of their skills, sent for pearl divers — from the island of Margarita — to aid in the search." 

Webb picked up where Lyons left off. “The rest — multi-millions in treasures and artifacts — is still out there,” says a distant look in his blue eyes, as if imaging what else might be out there.  
“Remote sensing technology has progressed dramatically since the last significant finds occurred, and this advancement prompted me to contact Mel Fishers Treasures, the company that holds the federal permit to search the area. I proposed a joint-venture partnership whereby I would bring my own team, vessels, and technology to work.” 

"How long did it take you to find it?"

"Seems like forever. The value of the treasure has exceeded $16 million to date. The search and recovery are funded by investors who share in the discoveries, in fact, in fact, you two might want to consider becoming a part of that if you're interested."

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves, Keith," said Doctor Nelson Lyons. "Free-lance exploration should be encouraged too,. We wouldn't want to corner the market or discourage friendly competition or amateur treasure-hunting; now would we?" 

"Nelson," Keith Webb ground out, half good-naturedly, half-seriously, "Have I mentioned lately that you are incorrigible?"

"Not lately," the other man chuckled.

"Thank you for the walk through the history, and we have some of our equipment for mapping the ocean floor and deep-sea diving but we would appreciate any help or advice that you could give us," Gabe said.

"We can give that to you and more, in fact, our best deep-sea diver is Bruce and as he does not any pressing assignments lined up at the moment, I'm sure I can lend him to you for a day or two," Doctor Lyons replied.

"I'll make the call," Webb agreed.  
****  
Several hours later, we back aboard the "Griffin, along with the expert deep-sea diver, Bruce Fuoco.4

Andie was at the helm and Gabe was manning the multi-beam sonar detector. 

Bathymetry, which was the measure of the depths and shapes of underwater terrain had come a long way since the days of sailors dropping weighted ropes off the sides of ships.  
Researchers and explorers today, and even deep-sea fishers and anyone else, can use radar pulses from orbiting satellites, laser beams from piloted ships, or unmanned drones, and sonar and sound waves emitted from unmanned submersibles.

Sonar usually was Andie and Gabe's go-to technology and it had not steered us wrong on any of our previous expedition. Gabe had mentioned on several occasions that despite advancements in technology the levels of resolution varied greatly and agreed that sonar was the best way to go since the waves traveled faster and further underwater than ever did on land.  
****  
About an hour afternoon Andie and her crew, along with deep-sea diver, Bruce Fuoco, arrived at the about 10 miles out from the curve of the Florida Keys landmass. 

Clad in a self-propelled NEWTSuit Bruce Fuoco examined the propeller shaft of the inverted stern section using the attached high-definition video camera.  
It was colder and darker at these depths but Bruce was an old hand at experiencing these kinds of conditions and what with all the help we were getting from the submersibles, it made things easier. 

As Bruce would say, "It made things easier knowing you're not alone. Without lighting and safety support from the SDL and another submersible, the dives could not have been photographed.

The data that he sent back them aboard "The Griffin" made Andie 'itch' to get down in there and see it for herself. Andie was a decent swimmer and had been on various expeditions with my Dad, but nowhere near as skilled as Gabe or Bruce. 

That did not stop her from wanting to plunge into the depths, and pun aside, immerse herself in that element. 

Experts in oceanography would agree that only about 10 percent of the ocean's floor had ever been mapped and that there was a whole unexplored and unknown world down there.  
It was odd, for the first time since her father had died and Andie could no longer think of him as he had been in his final days. 

Andie finally understood what had drawn her father and later on her, to the ocean, not much on the surface but also below them as well. It was the mystery, the allure, the history, and the need to explore and understand what made it tick. 

For the longest time, Andie had held a kind of love/hate relationship with the ocean. It had been many things to her, an element, a force of nature, an unknown that begged to become known. A father, even when her own was absent both emotionally and physically. 

It was said that the ocean was the mother of monsters, and it could be. 

It had even presented a kind of a mystery to her.

When she became the owner and the Griffin, through her father's will Andie had felt that she wanted nothing to do with her father's legacy. But now, now; she understood, and that made all the difference in the world.

Even if they never found any treasure ever again, and that was a big if, because expeditions took a lot of money to finance and outfit; she did not just want to follow in her father's footsteps.  
Andie Owen would make her own way, carve out her own destiny. And that was a kind of treasure all its own.


End file.
